The man accused in the attempted assassination of Donald Trump to appear in court
FORT PIERCE, Fla. — The man charged with attempting to assassinate Donald Trump when he was running for President last year will be in court Tuesday.
Prosecutors say a Secret Service agent spotted Ryan Routh holding a rifle and fired on him while Trump was golfing at his West Palm Beach club in September.
Routh faces five federal charges. The hearing will focus on the semi-automatic, SKS-style rifle authorities say Routh planned to use in the assassination attempt. Law enforcement authorities found the rifle in what they described as a “sniper’s nest” near the fence just outside of Trump’s golf club. Routh has pleaded not guilty.
The federal agent who was part of Trump’s security detail says he saw a gun barrel poking out from the tree line a few holes ahead of where the then-Presidential candidate was golfing. The agent fired at the person holding the gun. A man, later identified as Routh, fled the scene and was arrested a short time later driving north on Interstate 95.
Routh’s federal public defenders are asking U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to give them access to the rifle. They want a defense expert to examine and test-fire the weapon. The rifle left behind at the scene had a scope attached to it in a makeshift matter using electrical tape. Routh’s lawyers want their own experts to testify how well or whether it would have worked if fired at Trump that day.
Prosecutors say there’s no question that the gun worked. An FBI weapons expert test-fired the rifle when it was seized and processed as evidence. But they say the question of how well it worked is not relevant. More importantly, they say, is Routh’s alleged intent to attempt to kill then-Presidential candidate Donald Trump. If there was poor planning, problems with the gun, or other things that prevented the attack from happening, they say those details can’t be used as a defense.
Routh’s lawyers say if they aren’t granted access to the gun, they’d like all expert testimony about it excluded at trial. These are issues Judge Cannon will consider at Tuesday’s hearing.
Along with the attempted assassination of a presidential candidate, Routh is also charged with four other counts including federal weapons violations. Prosecutors have recently released some new details that they want to introduce at the trial. Those include messages recovered from Routh’s phone showing that he attempted to buy a 50-caliber rifle and a rocket launcher. That’s further evidence, they claim, of his intent. The defense hasn’t responded yet to the new information contained in court filings.
Routh’s trial is set to begin in September. The judge in this case, Aileen Cannon, also presided over Trump’s classified documents trial brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith. Cannon, who was appointed to the federal bench by Trump in his first term, ultimately dismissed the case that accused Trump of mishandling classified and top-secret documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
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